How a group of friends is building their dream community on the Sunshine Coast

It’s no secret housing is becoming less affordable in Vancouver. It’s estimated by the National Bank’s Housing Affordability Monitor that it takes the average household 35 years to save for the minimum down payment of a non-condo home in Vancouver. BC also has the highest rents in the country, with Rentals.ca’s November 2022 Rent Report showing over a 15% increase in Vancouver’s average rent anually.

Between the highest levels of unaffordable housing and record-high rent prices this year, the dream of owning a property surrounded by a community of friends and family is becoming seemingly out of reach… Or is it?

In a new web series from Vancity, you can see a group of friends pool their resources to build their very own community on the Sunshine Coast.

This three-episode series tells the story of how these 10 friends bought a four-acre plot of land in Gibsons, BC, with the hope of turning it into a 10-lot community. Equipped with a garden, communal areas, and room for their growing families, each five-minute episode will tell the story of the difficulties of making this project happen — and how Vancity helped them along the way.

Vancity

Fearing the unaffordability of Vancouver would pull the group in different directions, they often talked about starting a community where they could all live together. When the group received an email from one of the member’s Moms, with a listing for a plot of land, it became the catalyst that turned their fantasy into a reality.

The only problem was, how would they do this? With each member of the group having different levels of savings, financial risk tolerance, and mortgage eligibility, they initially had trouble securing the funds to buy the property.

Because the purchase they were trying to make was so unique, the group didn’t fit into the traditional mortgages normally offered by financial institutions. 

Vancity

Luckily, Vancity helped them secure this plot of land with the help of their Mixer Mortgage. Mixer mortgages offer competitive rates and flexible features that help you share the cost of home ownership between two or more people. Plus, it has the legal and insurance support you need to protect everyone’s best interests.

One of the group members, Colleen O’Toole, remembers the process of looking for a mortgage. “I went to some of the big banks and their reaction was to basically laugh us out of the room,” she says in the first episode. “And the message we got from Vancity when I walked into our local branch was, ‘I’m not sure we’ve done that before but that’s not a good enough reason to not try.’”

The group was able to purchase the property back in 2017 with this offering by Vancity. While the Mixer Mortgage helped support them financially, allowing them to buy into the property in a cost-effective way, they still have to deal with zoning, plotting, and a whole host of other challenges.

It’s sure to be a hit for reality TV fans, offering up a relatable home-flip project to follow along close to home. Who hasn’t wanted to band together with some pals and start up their own neighbourhood?

On the next episode, these friends dive into how they took their dream and made it a reality. To stay updated on when the next episode drops, or to learn more about the Mixer Mortgage, visit Vancity’s website.